The Paramount rights were easy because they were for films that already exist, and Paramount has no ongoing stake in the Avengers wing of the Marvel movie universe.

Fox and Sony are far more difficult, nigh impossible. Fox has a very strong interest in maintaining the X-men universe and will continue to make films so long as they are reaping profit. As far as I know, their agreement allows them to keep the rights in perpetuity so long as they are actively making films.

Fox seems pretty committed to pulling off thier own Marvel movie universe. Fox recently brought Mark Millar into the fold to oversee linking the Fantastic Four reboot to the X-men universe to make a Fox Marvelverse, similar to how Whedon has been overseeing the Disney owned Marvelverse.

Looks like Disney bought back the rights from Paramount for 4 Marvel movies. Makes you wonder what long term plans are if they will eventually buy back the rights from Uni/comcast.

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When Disney acquired Marvel in December 2009 for $4.2 billion in cash and stock, Disney knew that that Marvel had movie deals with several studios and that Universal had the theme park rights east of the Mississippi for all the top Marvel characters.

Disney bought the distribution and marketing rights to 2012s Marvels The Avengers and this years Iron Man 3 from Paramount. Now Disney acquired the rights to four existing Marvel superhero movies (the first two Iron Man movies, "Thor," and "Captain America: The First Avenger") from Paramount.

I'm sure that the execs at Disney wish that Disney could reach mutually beneficial agreements with Fox and Sony too. So far, neither of those looks likely.

The theme park rights are another matter. Here's what I wrote earlier this year:

If Disney had owned Marvel back in the 1990s, it's doubtful there would now be a Marvel Super Hero Island at IoA.

However, the status quo of having Marvel Super Hero Island at IoA works well for Marvel (Disney) and Universal.

Universal invested a lot of money in 1998 and 1999 to build Marvel Super Hero Island. That investment has been paying off ever since. Although Harry Potter is now the "star" at IoA, the Marvel Super Hero Island helps to make IoA a full-day park with highly repeatable attractions.

Universal continues to have a top-notch immersive attraction in the form of The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride, which was upgraded to digital 3-D projection. In addition, Marvel Super Hero Island also has timeless thrill rides that appeal to guests who like that sort of thing: Doctor Doom's Fearfall, The Incredible Hulk Coaster, and Storm Force Accelatron. IoA's Marvel section continues to be a popular themed land. And let's not forget the revenue from dining and merchandise.

Marvel (Disney) earns licensing income and merchandise revenue from the deal. It's a steady stream of pure profit for Marvel (Disney), without having to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to build something new. (Disney likes deals that provide pure profit.) It also keeps the characters in front of guests, helping to build an audience for new Marvel Studios movies.

If Disney wants to invest substantial capital in its own Marvel attractions, Disney (with its international partners) can do so at Disney parks California, France, Japan, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

It's good business for Universal to keep the status quo.

It's good business for Disney to keep the status quo.​

For the reasons above, Disney buying out Universal's theme park rights to Marvel remains very unlikely.

Universal is required to sell Marvel merchandise at IoA. What a great deal for Disney! It means that Disney makes money off IoA guests.

Universal's Marvel right are for the comic book versions of the Marvel characters. If Disney develops its own Marvel theme park presence in California or elsewhere outside of Universal's region, Disney can go with the movies versions. That being said, the comic book versions are actually more timeless.

Agreed with the above...this was solely about distribution rights of movies, and has zero to do with theme parks.

Distribution rights these days are something of a holdover from the old studio system. Nowadays the same company often is both the producer and the distributor, except for smaller studios like Marvel Studios, who needed a larger company as distributor. Now that Marvel Studios is part of Disney, it makes sense to bring it all in house, and then there are no questions about rights in the future as well.

Im glad they are buying up the rights. I was confused when Avengers came out and you would find it all at Disney and Universal.

I think Disney does better merch, so Ill be happy to see some Marvel and Avengers stuff in the stores.

Its all about the toys for me.

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Disney is not "buying up" anything new related to theme park rights or merchandise rights, beyond what Disney gained when it bought Marvel in December 2009. Universal owns the theme park rights east of the Mississippi, subject to certain terms and conditions.

Agreed with the above...this was solely about distribution rights of movies, and has zero to do with theme parks.

Distribution rights these days are something of a holdover from the old studio system. Nowadays the same company often is both the producer and the distributor, except for smaller studios like Marvel Studios, who needed a larger company as distributor. Now that Marvel Studios is part of Disney, it makes sense to bring it all in house, and then there are no questions about rights in the future as well.

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I'm going to disagree.... slightly. (Assuming we are talking about the Marvel purchase in general, and not this specific buyback).

Besides the cash-cow that Marvel Studios movies are currently, A secondary reason for Disney's Marvel purchase was the ownership of the back-animation catalog. The timing of the purchase coincided with Disney's rebranding of their ToonDisney Cable network to the boy-centric DisneyXD. The Marvel purchase instantly gave Disney a massive amount of programming that would fit the new target demographic for this channel's programming schedule.

So IMHO, the deal wasn't JUST about the Movies... But it was all about Media. There was the obvious theatrical movie angles, but there was also a large factor in Disney increasing it's catalog of IP which targetted the young male demographic. [something that had been lacking as the Disney Channel started skewing dramatically towards the young Girl demographic with it's programming, and the marketting of the 'Disney Princess' and Faries lines had grown]

But the Theme Park rights.... down at the bottom of the considerations.

(Honestly.... I can also see this same logic and priority list being applied to the Lucasfilm purchase.)

I'm going to disagree.... slightly. (Assuming we are talking about the Marvel purchase in general, and not this specific buyback).

Besides the cash-cow that Marvel Studios movies are currently, A secondary reason for Disney's Marvel purchase was the ownership of the back-animation catalog. The timing of the purchase coincided with Disney's rebranding of their ToonDisney Cable network to the boy-centric DisneyXD. The Marvel purchase instantly gave Disney a massive amount of programming that would fit the new target demographic for this channel's programming schedule.

So IMHO, the deal wasn't JUST about the Movies... But it was all about Media. There was the obvious theatrical movie angles, but there was also a large factor in Disney increasing it's catalog of IP which targetted the young male demographic. [something that had been lacking as the Disney Channel started skewing dramatically towards the young Girl demographic with it's programming, and the marketting of the 'Disney Princess' and Faries lines had grown]

But the Theme Park rights.... down at the bottom of the considerations.

(Honestly.... I can also see this same logic and priority list being applied to the Lucasfilm purchase.)

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No, I was talking about the buyback of distribution right of the four movies from Paramount...

I agree that Disney purchased Marvel for everything that came with it...I was only referring to Marvel Studios specifically with regards to distribution rights of movie/TV properties.

Looks like Disney bought back the rights from Paramount for 4 Marvel movies. Makes you wonder what long term plans are if they will eventually buy back the rights from Uni/comcast.

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They bought back the distribution rights to some of the "older" films (Iron Man 1 and 2, Thor, and Capt America).

This makes a ton of sense because:

a) It doesn't seem like it was a very expensive purchase

b) It allows them to do some tremendous "boxed sets" going forward..either for specific heroes or for the entire current "universe" of films they're running. Stuff that neither company could have done on it's own.

c) It allows Disney to program those movies on their own networks, going forward (after some existing contracts expire), without having to haggle with Paramount.

I actually think it doesn't make you wonder about Uni/Comcast, at all. It's a completely different kind of thing, under completely different circumstances. Buy hey, that's just me.

Some of the older things they aren't even having to buy. There is a clause in most of the contracts that if you don't do something with a character for a certain amount of time the rights revert back to marvel, and thus to Disney.

My husband has been tracking what they get this way. I believe Ghost Rider recently went back to them and a few others.

Due to this we can expect a new spiderman, Xman, etc themed movie or show every so often now so the companies that have the rights can keep them.

Some of the older things they aren't even having to buy. There is a clause in most of the contracts that if you don't do something with a character for a certain amount of time the rights revert back to marvel, and thus to Disney.

My husband has been tracking what they get this way. I believe Ghost Rider recently went back to them and a few others.

Due to this we can expect a new spiderman, Xman, etc themed movie or show every so often now so the companies that have the rights can keep them.

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Sometimes it depends on the contract. Ghost Rider reverted even though they released a sequel just last year. I don't know the terms, but likely Sony/Columbia decided not to renew rights.

Daredevil, on the other hand, languished for years at Fox, seemingly coming close to getting a reboot actually made, but then they missed a deadline.

However, I don't believe any of the things that have reverted in the past year are really on the radar for development in the near future...

every thread that has "marvel" in it tries to resurrect the complete wishful thinking "disney might now pursue rides by buying out universal" thought line.

I just can't see that being realistic on any level...none. It's never going to happen. Disney is not going to build a superhero park...and they aren't going to pay their now prime competitor (comcast/nbc/universal and the squirrely Roberts family at the head) in order to then pay to build new rides for their "loyal" customers.

This is a dead duck argument...there really is no argument. The only way anything changes is if universal goes into serious trouble and gets sold off for parts. and that is now impossible based on who their parent company is.